Zola
is the tritagonist and one of the main characters in the Blue Dragon universe. In the games, she is the leader of King Jibral's blademasters. In the anime, she had a previous affiliation with the Gran Kingdom before switching sides, with a shocking plot twist. History * Video Game: Zola was a mercenary for some time before the game events. One day, she was ambushed by a group of enemies and was unable to defeat them. Just before a fatal blow was dealt, time froze and Nene granted her a light sphere in exchange for her service. Zola and her new Killer Bat Shadow defeated the remaining foes, becoming the leader of the Jibral Blademasters, which is when the events of Blue Dragon begin to unfold. It is later revealed that she was Nene's "loyal servant" and that she was the voice who told them to swallow the Light Spheres. She then turns on Nene and says that if she, "Were to betray someone, it wouldn't be Shu and his friends. It would be you Nene!" She then defeats him with Killer Bat and takes the Light Sphere. After Shu and the others tell her not to take the Light Sphere, she throws it over the Eternal Engine Nene was hooked up to. * Anime: As a child, Zola lost her father in an accident while researching ruins with him and Nene. She was the only survivor besides Nene, and gave into the darkness where the sadness and despair unleashed the creature sealed within the ruins, Killer Bat. Unlike the game, she formerly served the Gran Kingdom under General Logi before leaving for her own ambitions. Shadow Zola is the owner of the shadow, Killer Bat. * Video Game: Killer Bat is blue. He experiences in the ways of an assassin, such as attacking first or attacking twice in one move. When she does her corporeal move (a.k.a tension) Killer Bat turns white, with an appearance similar to the Saiyan Great Apes from the Dragon Ball franchise. * Anime: Her shadow is quite mute like most artificial shadows. It is the only Shadow of Zola's party who is armed with a weapon. After Zola revealed her true color's it was revealed Killer Bat is the manifestation of Zola's own darkness. The battle escalated Zola merged with her own shadow (powered by the darkness) to form a demonic version of her. Synopsis Video Game Zola is a playable character in Blue Dragon and Blue Dragon Plus. A former mercenary serving as the leader of King Jibral's Blademasters. She is the only character who never loses her Shadow. Zola is first introduced in the story when Shu, Jiro and Kluke find light spheres aboard the Flying Fortress. It is her voice, on Nene's command, that orders them to swallow the spheres. Zola makes her first appearance and can be played as first when the traveling survivors of Talta Village are attacked on their way to Jibral. She is among the warriors with King Jibral and joins Shu, Jiro, Kluke and Marumaro in battling the group of Steel-eating Tigers. She then leads the group in their mission to shut down Nene's Flying Fortress which they accomplish while Shu and his friends battle General Szabo. Zola then helps King Jibral and his army escape the base before it crashes with Shu and his friends follow in a stolen mechat moments later. Zola fades slightly in her storyline role when Kluke is abducted by Nene. The party rescues Kluke from Nene, but were pursued later by Szabo's remains before reaching Nene's room. Zola holds off Szabo while the others go to fight Nene. They escape and Zola regroups with them a short time later after they regain their shadows. They witness the planet being split and reformed thanks to Nene's tampering with the Ancient's technology. After making their way into the masses of cube worlds that spill out from the planet, they find the cube Nene is based at. After battling their way through swathes of enemies, they finally reach and defeat Nene. Nene lies amidst the ruins of his ancient machines, and reveals that Zola had been working with him the entire time. She battles the group briefly, not attacking, before turning on Nene, revealing that she had been working with him for his power only. After this, she kills him. She rejects his power and throws his light sphere into the wreckage, and assists the others in fighting off Deathroy's unleashed form, Destroy. After this, she is shown back at Jibral, continuing her work as the leader of the blademasters. After Awakened Shadow, it is implied that she marries King Jibral, but it is not confirmed. Anime Zola serves as the leader of the protagonists' group, being the most mature and intelligent. She and Jiro arrives at Shu's village, where her keen senses and expert swordsmanship brought Shu to mistook her as a Blademaster. After fending off one of Nene's raid on the village, she reintroduces herself to Shu as a descendant of the Seven Soldiers of Light and their mission to find the missing descendants in order to defeat Nene. It was only after Nene's death that Zola's true intentions for gathering the Shadow Wielders were revealed...the evil within Killer Bat corrupts Zola causing her to unleash the darkness that plagued the world. While Shu still believed Zola still has good within, he discovers the reason because Killer Bat chasing out her "good-side" since the cave-in that killed her father. With her good separated from Zola, she became the true evil and avatar of the legendary darkness. Killer Bat then merges with Zola to form a demonic version of her. With the help of the other light descendants, Shu was able to vanquish the Demon Zola, destroying Killer Bat once and for all. Afterwards while the others struggle to seal the darkness, Zola appears before Shu one last time smiling; speculation implies that although she released it, she became glad that for Shu's development of character. Trial of the Seven Shadows However, it would be later revealed in the second series that only the darkness within Zola died. The good within her (which was driven off by Killer Bat) was found by White Guardians leader Dr. Tarkovsky who implanted the light into a homunculus, whom the latter took in as his own granddaughter named Primella. Relationships Shu In the game, he is impressed by her skills and respected her actions, although like the others, he was just as shocked when everyone found out she had been working for Nene. In the anime, she arrives at his village and after defeating Gran Kingdom soldiers she told him to come with her. Like the game, he was quite aggrieved at her betrayal of their trust and friendship. However, Shu still stubbornly willing to go to greater lengths to confront her of her mistakes as he still believes that there is still good in left in her and because he believed that she truly consider him and the others as friend. After successfully defeating her, he then quickly forgives her of her mistakes due to the fact that he values her their friendship much more. Zola respects Shu's determination and sometimes his stubbornness in his tendency to save that world as she might regard this as one of the most important qualities in an individual. Zola strongly believes in his potential capability to do so. She felt a pleasured satisfaction for him achieving his goals as she displayed a genuine smile before departing to the afterlife. Jiro In the game, she doesn't interact much with Jiro, although he was the one who figured out Nene was using her power as insurance to his own. In the anime, Zola was the one who found Jiro after his village was destroyed. He travelled with her and she taught him swordsmanship and possibly hand to hand combat skills in which he wielded professionally. This was further demonstrated in season 2. They are the closest in the anime. Their relationship seems to demonstrate a sisterly-brotherly relationship. However, when Jiro can't control his emotions she usually tells him off, like at the end of Season 1. Kluke In the game not much is known about their relationship, However, in the anime. Zola acts like a motherly figure to her, like in episode 3. She admired and complimented her of her compassionate personality and encourages her to continue her acts of compassion. As she had once told her "you're a kind person and that one-day kindness will become your greatest strengths". Marumaro In the game, she likes him despite his loud shouts at her and his continual saying of "LOVE!" After the events of the first game, she takes the Devee under her wing as an apprentice, a role that he very much enjoys. In the anime, she is the one who lets Marumaro free after the group captures him. She also allows him to join the group despite his perverted actions. Quotes * "Do you recall when you swallowed the Light Spheres and the voice that told you to?" - Zola after Nene tells Shu and the gang she was a spy for him all along * "Marumaro, you're Shadow is very cool." - When she meets up with Shu and the gang in Disc 3 * "But your majesty, this is the only finger it will fit on." - After King Jibral tells her that "a ring on that finger signifies for marriage" * "I see. So you really care for Shu." - Zola after she asks why Kluke came along with Shu on his journey in Blue Dragon anime * "You're a kind person, and someday, that kindness will be your greatest strength." - After Kluke says, "No, it's not like that, Zola!" in Blue Dragon anime * "Just when I thought it was over, time suddenly stood still." - Zola when telling her story on how she got her Shadow to Shu and the gang in the game * "If I were going to betray anyone, it wouldn't be Shu and his friends. It would be you, Nene!" - Zola after turning on Nene. * "There's a time and place for everything. That's always been your weakness"- After Jiro attempted to summon his shadow * "In fact, if I were to be perfectly honest with you I may not even necessarily be your ally" - Episode 1 *"I said I'm sick of listening to you! Now put up or shut up!" - While fighting Lemaire in episode 11 after he said "What did you just say?" Trivia * She seems to display exceptional interpersonal skills as she appeared to be wise and rational in terms of making decisions and can mostly motivate herself in the face of difficult situations. * Unlike the game, Zola is not working for Nene, but is seeking to make the world full of darkness. * In the anime, Zola's shadow can wield a sword, unlike her game shadow which fights without one. * Zola in Latin means "ball of earth" and the name Zola is also derived from the African word Zulu meaning "peaceful" or "tranquil" which oddly suited her perfectly regarding her calm demeanour. * There is a possibility that she displayed both her interest and strengths in areas of history and archaeology based on the her statement that she found it "a rare opportunity and an honour" in getting to see "the oldest book in the world" (the Book of the Beginning) during her brief conversation with Conrad and she seem to demonstrate her knowledge and understanding of the historical manuscript. Category:Characters Category:Female Category:Blue Dragon player characters Category:Shadow Wielders Category:Game Characters Category:Deceased Characters